Faced with the challenge of producing an additional 159 million tonne (MT) of coal in the 11th Plan, state-run Coal India (CIL) has decided to focus on increasing production from its underground mines, which had decreased in the 10th plan.
"CIL has to meet a stiff challenge and in the 11th Plan. The company is expected to increase production by 159 MT, roughly twice the growth achieved in the previous plan.
"In terms of annualised growth, this translates to an asking rate of 7.6 per cent per annum against 5.4 per cent achieved during the 10th Plan," CIL Chairman Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya said.
Given the distribution of coal reserves within and beyond 300 meters, he said, it was becoming increasingly evident that the trend of persistent decline in coal production from underground mines must be reversed during this plan period.
Against a decline of five million tonne per annum in underground production during the 10th plan, increase of at least 11 MT per annum was being targeted during 11th Plan, he said.
He said that persistent decline in underground production had been arrested in 2007-08 and in the current fiscal, a modest rise of about 0.5 MT was achieved so far.